Glorious, Glorious!

Just when I feel frustrated living in this town -- the politics, the changes, the weather, the politics (did I already say that?), I find something that renews my love for my hometown -- the beautiful downtown area.

Yesterday I spent a good hour or more with one of my hottie May couples, Thomas and Stephanie, up by the Capitol. I was lucky to not have been kicked off the grounds for snapping photos -- one of the reasons I rarely accept doing 'monument' shoots. Unfortunately, the Park Service requires permits for professional photography OR we can just push our luck and hope for the best, which is what I did yesterday and I'm thankful I did this. Aside from an overcast sky, the cherry blossoms were in full force this weekend and of course that meant insane traffic and crowds. But it also meant wonderful imagery. My wonderful husband was gracious enough to drive me and the boys downtown, dropped me off near the Capitol, then killed an hour or so of time with the boys so I could do this before coming back to get me.

I had a hard time narrowing down these shots b/c I rarely get downtown so I'm just excited to have a variety!

My cousin's McDonald's commercial in Australia

This cracks me up -- my beautiful cousin, who lives in Australia, is in a McCafe commercial -- which is McDonald's new boutique coffee shop (I guess?). She's the one drinking the coffee with a very happy expression on her face! She certainly makes it look yummy!

Ben & Cameron

Ben and Cameron are getting hitched in early May -- one week after graduating from James Madison University! How ambitious are they?! I love it. Their wedding will be at the fantabulous Meadowlark Gardens in Vienna, VA -- gorgeous setting and I'm happy it'll be in full bloom then. What joy for photos!

We did their engagement session during their spring break in early March -- luckily we had a good day as there were many cold, snowy, gray days that week. We were at the historic Grist Mill in Alexandria - one of my favorite historic spots around here. I love Alexandria for all the great locales for shoots! They are cutie-patooties and I look forward to their big day.

Lent

Today is Good Friday. One of the most sacred and sad days in the Church when Christ was crucified. I took my boys into my church for a bit during the 3 hour prayer vigil, which represents the 3 hours He was agonizing on the cross - between 12 and the hour of his death at 3pm. It was beautiful being in the church today -- quite moving in fact. Every 30 minutes one of the priests read the 7 last words of Christ with it ending on "unto your hands I commend my spirit." How powerful those words are. We didn't stay for the entirety but I took the kids for 2 readings -- at 130 and again at 3pm.

But my point here is to mention that Lent is supposed to bring about reflection on many things -- but one specifically is almsgiving -- the giving to the needy. Everyday I am thankful for my health, my kids, my husband, my mom and my family. I have a good life. I have a great balance of everything perfect -- health, spirituality, finances, home, friends, work and love. As I approach 40 in about 6 months I think to myself I have never had it better. What can I do to make it even better that is as fulfilling? Easy -- GIVE. Giving what others don't have is one little way I think helps me feel I am doing my part on this plane of existence to make a difference. Consequently, the LENTEN lesson today for my 7 1/2 year old, who is starting to be old enough to understand all this was to pick a charity for which our family could give a lump sum of $ to give to before Easter when Lent ends. We gave him 4 options -- ones I think of that have personal meaning or are just top-of-mind important:

1.Parkinson's Disease Association (my father passed of this horrible disease in 1997)
2.American Cancer Society (my father in law passed of melanoma 3 years ago)
3.St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital (we do give to them at Christmas time)
4. Food for the Poor

Proudly, he was conflicted and wanted to give to 2, then added a 3rd once we explained what each charity strives to do. Ultimately, Food for the Poor will get the donation this year. It's hard to pick and there's a great website that helps you determine what makes the most sense for you to give called Charity Navigator

Also, as a CCD student, all the kids were given a little box to collect loose coins throughout Lent -- much like what we did as youngsters trick-or-treating taking our little UNICEF boxes along. So we did manage to collect around $15 in coins for the past 6 weeks. Not a lot but something -- hard to carry coins in a DEBIT world! So Operation Rice Bowl will also get a little money.

Finally, I did post something about another charity, Plan USA, about a year ago (click here) -- whereby one can contribute monthly to sponsor a child in a developing country who is in desperate need of food, housing, education. We've been doing this for almost 9 years and it's wonderful to get letters periodically updating us on the progress of our sponsor child. It does work.

Anyway, thanks for reading and Happy Easter!

Cute boys

Now that I know how to post slideshows, here is one from a shoot last fall. These boys are scrumptious -- they are the same ages as my own so I love working with this family as I really relate to these smoochey boys. This is the 3rd shoot I have done with them in less than 2 years and it's so fun to see them grow.

Blue Angels Airshow in Annapolis 2006

This slideshow has been on my website for a couple years but I just wanted to resurrect it in an attempt to post my first slideshow on my blog.

The story behind this is that my now 7 1/2 year old has loved the Blue Angels since he was a tiny soul. I believe his dad and I bought him a Blue Angels die-cast jet when he was around 2 on one of our MANY day trips to Annapolis. The obsession began at that point and since they perform at the Naval Academy's graduation every May, they also do a show for the public the day before. We try to go every year. This particular year we took a boat out and had the most amazing view in the Annapolis Harbour -- along with about 832,432 other boats. Honestly, the skies couldn't have been more beautiful and clear for this type of photography shoot. Naturally, the song is from my own obsession, Foo Fighters (Dave Grohl) singing MY HERO, which works really well, don't you agree? Take a listen and watch! The only drawback is this is so compressed that you cannot fully enjoy the beauty of this precision flying on a tiny screen!

ENJOY!

Promos+Products

I just received another addition to my product line-up. Images and/or storyboards mounted on 'standout' which is a 3/4" mounting surface that doesn't need framing and is ready to hang. It's like gallery wrap but less expensive -- primarily b/c it's NOT canvas and doesn't wrap! But it's still a nice way to showcase a storyboard or an image.

Also, just for fun, I put together a little bag of jelly bellies, in my logo colors of course, that has a little promo card on it. I will be a vendor at a local preschool later this month for their 'Spring Fling' where I'll be handing them out. Let me know what you think!

Rules are made to be broken

Spring is here! For the past couple of days, we have had glorious weather -- upper 50s and 60s. I know it's too early to say spring is here to stay but I'll take it! I am happy to get outside and take photos -- feels great after being inside all winter!

I decided to mess around with a super old 50mm lens I have had for years yesterday. No zoom, just a fixed focal length lens. It's tricky to re-learn after having a zoom to adjust distance. In any event, it's a pretty lens and I decided to shoot INTO the sun to get the fun sparkle and flare. Normally, this isn't what one is supposed to do with shooting but it works for some fun shots. Jackson was hamming it up for me then asked for my camera and shot about 50 photos with this one of his mom and dad being indifferent! I SO DO NOT like having my photo taken!

Be sure to click on this one of jackson to see it LARGER!

My favorite song and film this year

I just had to post this You Tube clip from Jack and my all time favorite movie of the entire year, Once. We saw it last summer and since we are a music family, we were especially moved by this great indie film. They did a performance at XM in the early summer before they were really on anyone's radar. Jack came home that night and talked them up. I listened to their music and was blown away. It was truly refreshing and authentic. Had I known they were this good, I would have gone in to see the show. Hate when that happens!

Anyway, I highly recommend seeing it. These guys won "best song" at the Oscars this year. We couldn't have been happier for this win! I never tire of listening to this song and their others are equalling smashing!

Handbags

In a couple weeks I hope to have my first sample handbag to add to my collection of products. I have seen these adorable handbags in other photographer studios and I think they are quite cute. While they are not for everyone, some women really love these and I have heard that some women who have carried these have been chased down by other women to find out where they got them!

The vendor I work with is a wonderful mother/daughter team in the mid-west and they cater to photographers. They have about 17 bags at the current time -- some diaper bags, some beach bags, a backpack and even a couple little girls purses with tutu's around them. The images below show a sample of what they look like. They vary in style, size and you can customize the trim color. The best part is they are made in the USA!

(Please click on this image to see a larger version)

Harry's big #5!

I am amazed to be talking about this already. 5 years. In some ways I think that it's just a couple years ago when I was in the hospital marveling at my new baby boy who I was convinced would be a girl -- named Eva Amalia. But at 9 pounds, 1 oz. he certainly was not. He looked like a fat, old man...stocky and meaty and lots of folds to smooch. Harry is proud to be 5 and as excited as he was, he was surprised and sad that he didn't FEEL any differently. He did try to show me, in a sneaky way, that he was taller. But after a cursory glance downward, I noticed he was on his tippy toes. He was defeated when I just stared at him with a smirk and then he retorted with, "Oh, mom" exasperated.

He was a lucky 5 year old. He tried to tell me he was 6 or 7 b/c we had 3 days of birthdays. Since his REAL birthday was on Thursday, of course we took him out for his chosen dinner of RIBS. Famous Dave's BBQ was his pick. They surprised him with a huge sundae with a massive candle/sparkler on top for dessert too. He was smitten. Ribs and ice cream and Harry is set for life.

On Friday, my mom baked cupcakes (at least that's what she called them but the icing was about 2mm thick and no kid thinks this is a true cupcake!) and his class sang to him. And finally, Saturday was his real party. I had it at his preschool b/c the large room afforded more running space for a winter birthday, and secondly, I had hired a magician to entertain the kids for the hour. With the intent of less work for mom in the planning process. Well, ever hear of Murphy's Law? Indeed this happened. Mr. Magician drove from MD and got a flat tire on the way...and would you believe was an HOUR late. Well, bday parties don't last more than 2 hours so by the time he got there, there was only 30 minutes left. He shortened the show but WOWed the kids nonetheless so I was a bit disappointed we couldn't have the full hour but he did do a great, great job. The company is called Jason Levinson and despite the bad luck, I highly recommend them for parties.

Harry's big birthday present was a new bike. He has been the 'hand me down' kid for 5 years and deserved this bike after riding his brother's old bike which was in bad shape -- dangerously so. Training wheels that never stayed on straight and wheel treads that were worn off b/c of my older son's SLAMMING on the breaks to show off his stops! So he's thrilled to have a cool, red bike!

Just for kicks, I will post a photo of Master Harry at the ripe young age of 5 months as well.

ENJOY!

More in-studio baby portraits!

Jessica is a first time mom and brought her sweet baby boy in for his first photo session last week. Declan is 6 weeks old and I almost said no to Jessica b/c I have found that this age is hard to photograph. Not only are they still in that phase of a lot of involuntary movements with their arms (which get in the way of the photos) but they can get fussy pretty quickly too...esp when asked to model and pose a lot! I certainly don't mind being around this sweet, chubby phase but my goal is to get as many great shots of this newborn phase as possible for the parents and I have found that I have had to do re-shoots b/c of the quirkiness of their rapidly growing bodies. Consequently, my new 'rules' for baby shoots include the fresh-out-of-the-oven babies (less than 3 weeks old) when all they do is sleep, and then not again until they are about 3 months old, or holding their heads up while on their tummies.

I have learned a lot from my friend and colleague Liz Vance, who is a fabulous maternity and baby photographer as well as a colleague with NILMDTS. It's how I met her and I am thrilled about that connection. She has encouraged me to 'go for it' with in-studio shoots with maternity and newborns. It's been a fun learning curve and I am grateful to her for pushing me into an area where I have been very skeptical of my own skills (i.e. artifical light!) and just out of my comfort zone.

My little photography community of friends has been such a blessing. It can be a lonely job working solo, no office mates to chat and laugh with, hunkering down in the office/studio by oneself in the quiet of the night....but meeting up on occasion and talking 'shop' via email or chat is good enough to keep me going and it's certainly good enough for me to say "I will never work in the corporate world for 'the man' ever again"! I love having my own business and not having to report to anyone but myself (or my kids).


So check out Declan and his mom!